Via Christi’s ER sees roughly 15,000 patients each year, and the department hasn’t seen any upgrades in about 15 years. Completion of the $846,000 project includes the addition of three “fast track” rooms, a ligature resistive room which creates a safe space for patients with behavioral health needs and a full-scale face lift of most of the department.

“The upgrades not only benefit our emergency room team, but also our patients,” said Naomi Powers, RN, director of the ER. “Our ligature resistive room, which is used for our behavioral health patients, has been completely remodeled to ensure that patients can’t hurt themselves while in our care.

“In addition, about a third of our patients are what we would consider non-urgent, which means they often face longer wait times when trauma patients and those with emergent needs come in,” she continued.

The addition of the fast-track rooms brings the total number of treatment rooms to 13, which will result in a better patient flow and workflow for providers, Powers explained. Fast-track rooms will be used for patients with less urgent needs and will help get them in and out much quicker.

“With an anonymous gift of $100,000, the Mount Carmel Foundation raised more than $250,000 during its fundraising efforts to help pay for this renovation project,” Norton added. “When you need emergency care, you want it to be high quality and updated. Our ER is designated as a Level III Trauma Center and is there to care for our most critical patients.

“The Foundation is proud to support a project that has a great impact on our community,” she said. “This project was made possible by our amazing community members and businesses and we can’t thank all of them enough.”